The director and performer Simone Dede Ayivi shows Schwarze Leute – Reclaiming Memories at the Sophiensæle from Wednesday 25 to Sunday 29 November 2026, at 7pm and on Sunday at 4pm. Tickets cost 10, 15, 20 or 25 €, a choice of tiers. The performance is in German, with English surtitles on Friday 27, Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November.
The piece is a late act of Akteneinsicht, of reading the files. After 1945 many children were born in Germany to white German mothers and Black American soldiers. The authorities often placed them in children's homes or sent them abroad for adoption. Ayivi goes back into the archives and the life stories to give that generation its history. It follows her earlier Sophiensæle piece Unauthorized und Unverschämt (2024). Ayivi builds her work on biography, interviews and research into Black history and representation; she received the Tabori Award of the Fonds Darstellende Künste in 2022.
What to expect
A text-heavy evening with archive material, video and live camera. The Sophiensæle gives the length as 70 minutes in one place and up to 90 minutes without an interval in another. The piece quotes racist language from historical documents. There is strobe-like light, loud music and wind on stage.
Good to know
- When: Wednesday 25 November (premiere) to Saturday 28 November, 7pm; Sunday 29 November, 4pm
- Where: Festsaal, Sophiensæle, Sophienstraße 18, 10178 Berlin
- Tickets: 10/15/20/25 € through the Sophiensæle online shop, by phone on 030 283 52 66 (Mon–Fri 4–6pm) or at the box office
- Language: German; English surtitles on 27, 28 and 29 November
- Extras: on 28 November a community introduction for Black, Afro-German and Afro-diasporic audiences at 6.15pm in the Kantine, and a talk after the show
- Access: two wheelchair spaces and two beanbag seats, bookable in advance; early boarding possible
- Getting there: U8 Weinmeisterstraße or S Hackescher Markt
Nearby
The Babylon cinema, ten minutes east, shows Chaplin's The Gold Rush with a live orchestra on Sunday 29 November at 6pm, shortly after the matinee ends.